161 ChargeSpot Batteries Recovered From Tokyo River
SingTao · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Tokyo police launched a recovery operation on August 21 after repeated reports of portable batteries in the Kanda River and retrieved 161 units that appeared to belong to the ChargeSpot rental service. The case is being investigated as possible illegal dumping and property damage, while the operator says the batteries can be traced through usage records
Key Points
- Social media posts and video from August 14 showed ChargeSpot's light blue devices lying on the riverbed, and some were still visible in the water on August 20
- The dumping site was about a five-minute walk from Nakano-shimbashi Station, where local residents complained about pollution and risks to ducks and other animals in the river
- ChargeSpot is a Hong Kong-founded multinational shared power bank rental company established in 2017, with stations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Singapore
- The Japan operator, INFORICH, said every battery carries a management number, allowing the borrower to be identified through usage records
- INFORICH also said portable batteries have a service life of about one to three years and are normally collected and disposed of by specialist companies
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the case puts attention on how cross-border rental hardware is tracked, recovered and disposed of after use, especially for batteries that can become hazardous when damaged. It also raises questions over whether the problem happened during customer use or somewhere in the collection and recycling chain, an issue the operator says it will examine with police